


It's All in The Colour

by AwkwardAndUncomfortable



Series: Different Circumstances for Darcy Lewis [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Adoption, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Drug Dealing, Drug Taking (Minor), F/F, F/M, I Should Be Revising For Exams, M/M, Multi, Mutant, Needles, Police, i don't even, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5186456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardAndUncomfortable/pseuds/AwkwardAndUncomfortable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red meant anger.</p>
<p>Purple meant desperation.</p>
<p>Yellow meant dishonesty.</p>
<p>She had never met anybody with golden colours before.</p>
<p>******</p>
<p>A spin off from Remembering (Because of Your Smile), featuring one of my favourite characters! It can be read alone, but it  works in the series too.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and please enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who should be revising for the six exams I have tomorrow?
> 
> THIS GAL.
> 
> Seriously, I'm making bad decisions. 
> 
> Please enjoy, leave a comment on what you think! Anything you recognize doesn't belong to me and please be gentle. Thanks for reading!

"Don't you dare fuck this up for me." Michael glared, his eyebrows pulled together in his typical scowl. His head seemed to pulse with angry red spikes of colour, that hurt her eyes. If she concentrated hard enough, she could focus in on the energy and see his emotions, thoughts, fears. 

She'd tried it once though. After she was hit with the waves of loathing, anger, and images of little bags of white powder, she never tried again.

His hand gripped her jaw tightly. His angry brown eyes glared into hers. "You got that freak?" She nodded as well as she could with his iron clad grip on her jaw. His mouth tightened into a sneer. "Good. Now tell me if this guy is safe." He released her before leaving the room. She heard the muffled sound of talking through the walls and strained to hear what was being said. She could only get murmurs though.

They had done this so many times that it was almost routine now. Michael gave her the same stern talk before bringing in a too-thin man that smelt funny. She never said anything though, just did what she was told to do. Michael pulled her into his lap with a grin that screamed fake and sent a burst of energy coloured a sickly yellow. He'd smile and say "She's my baby girl, can't stand to be away from me." He'd laugh, she'd smile politely and pretend to be playing whilst Michael spoke to the man. If what the man said was true, she'd smile at Michael. If not, she'd stop playing and leave the room. Then she'd cover her ears and ignore the horrible sounds coming through the walls.

They'd been doing this since she was old enough to tell Michael about the colours she could see, and how sometimes she could see... More. That was the first time he'd hit her. After that she stopped talking about the colours. She was told to ignore them, that they were only for freaks. So she did. She only saw the colours when Michael told her to.

So when Michael lead the tall man into the room, she darted over to his side and clambered into his lap. He laughed falsely and pulled her onto his knees and holding onto her hand. The man watched them carefully, wearing an equally fake smile. What was funny, was his colours. They flared out in deep purple spikes, moving in and out in short, panicked movements. She had only gotten the hang of telling what the colours meant recently, and practised on Michael. When he allowed it, that is.

Purple meant desperation, or panic.

She stared at him in curiosity, thinking hard about what could be making him react this way. On closer inspection, she realised that he was different from the usual men too. His nails were clean, and weren't dyed yellow. Even his teeth were white. His skin shone with health, compared to the sallow con-caved cheeks that she was used to. He was entirely... Other.

She focused in on the flaring purple spikes and concentrated.

Thiswasn'tsupposedtohappenlikethis,she'snotsupposedtobehere,whatthefuckamIsupposedtodo

The thought was accompanied by flashing images of black vests, guns and bright yellow jackets.

Her concentration dropped when he addressed a question to her.

"And what's your name, cutie?" He smiled a her, a genuine one this time, his colours flashing a rich green, but they were still tinged with purple.

Michael answered for her. "This is Olympia, just turned five." She turned five about six months ago. He had gifted her with a bruise that had lasted weeks.

"Ain't you a pretty little thing." She sent a small smile but quickly zoned out when the two men began talking about different things. Michael nudged her side with his thumb in a not so subtle gesture to begin. Her eyes screwed up in concentration. She found his brain caught halfway into a thought.

Icouldgetherout, awayfromhim, theforcewouldagree, adoptionhasgottobebetterthanthis.

The force? 

She dimly remembered Michael warning her to say away from the men in yellow jackets with walkie talkies attached to their shoulders. He had called them something. What did he call them?

The police force.

The police force were bad, wrong. Olympia shouldn't go near them.

But... This man was police force. And he wanted to get her out. Away from Michael.

She was stuck. If she left the room, Michael would reward her by leaving her alone for the day, but then she'd never get a chance to get away from him. But... What if she lied to Michael, and he found out? Olympia still remembered the horrible feeling of bone sticking through skin.

Both of the men leaked the sickly yellow colour of a lie through the room, and Olympia followed the swirls of colours with her eyes. Michael dug his thumb into her side again and she struggled not to wince when his nail broke skin. 

She looked up to him and smiled.

*****

It finished quickly after that. Michael and the man exchanged a handshake and large briefcases, he quickly instructed her to walk the man out. Olympia knew that he would probably getting his needles out now. She still didn't understand why he kept hurting himself with the needles, they went into his skin and made his colours go weird. She never asked questions though.

She lead the man to the front door and quickly tugged on the bottom of his shirt as he left.

He turned around with his mouth opened wide to say something, she hurriedly hushed him. He wore a confused expression, but did as she asked. He squatted down to make eye contact.

"He'll fall asleep by the time it's dark." He raised his eyebrows and she quickly carried on talking in hushed whispers. "But don't come in if there's a big yellow car outside, that means the man with the gun will be here." Olympia didn't like the man who brought the gun. He sent her long stares that made her skin crawl.

"What-"

"Sh." She cut him off. "Don't tell him that I told you. Just tell the rest of the force."

His eyes widened. "What do you mean the force?" He whispered back, after he got his bearings.

"The men in yellow jackets with the walkie talkies. The police force." She said impatiently, frantically looking behind her to make sure Michael hadn't crept up on her. "You work for them right?"

"How do you-?" He said, his jaw falling open. She tapped the centre of his forehead.

"I saw it." Then the door was closing and Michael had his arm around her wrist.

He pulled her around to face him. "What were you two talking about?" He asked, angry red colours flying around him in a vicious tornado that was a complete opposite to the smile that he wore.

Olympia didn't hesitate in answering. "He asked me about my birthday."

"Oh yeah?" His smile was bitter and cold. It made her sick to see it adorn his face. "And what did he ask you?"

"About my birthday cake. I said it was chocolate and had candles." She said, back ramrod straight as she lied. Seeing how Michael's body language and face never matched his colours, she had gotten fantastic at imitating the mannerisms and expressions when she was lying.

"Really." He crossed his arms and tapped his chin with is finger. "For some reason, I don't believe you." Then his hand came out of nowhere and it sent her crashing into the wall. She hit it hard, and slid down it to rest on the ground. She saw a flash of colour in the corner of her eyes as his boot landed hard against her stomach.

"What were you talking about?" He spat at her,saliva spraying across her face. She curled in on herself and wheezed, struggling to breathe.

"My birthday." She said weakly, holding her stomach. His boot landed again, this time on her chest.

"You wanna lie to me again?" He shouted. She shook her head, and curled in on herself.

"Not... Lying." She gasped. 

He raised his boot one more time and she saw a flash of pulsing, angry, bloody red and then nothing.

Darkness.

*****

The room they put her in was nice. It had a bed with nice, clean sheets and her own set of drawers. They weren't filled with much, but her two best dresses and an old teddy bear that she had found abandoned on a playground one day. The woman with the big glasses and straight hair had promised that one day the drawers would be full.

Michael wasn't around any more. She didn't know where he was, but when the police force had taken her here, Olympia had focused on their colours. The image of little white bags ripped open and Michael's bruised and bloody face was enough. She didn't ask questions. 

The girl they put her in a room in was mean. She was older and had straight blonde hair, blue eyes and colours that screamed dishonesty. As soon as the nice lady had left the room the girl had turned to her with a smirk.

"Listen freak, stay on your side of the room, don't talk to me in front of the others and definitely don't stare at me with those creepy eyes. Got it?" Olympia glanced at the faint vicious red that surrounded the girl. It was similar to Michael's, but not as strong. She nodded weakly, and the girl flipped her hair triumphantly before flouncing out.

It was at this point that Olympia flopped onto the bed and let out a few silent tears. The girl was just like Michael, just less extreme. She knew how this would go, the girl's colours would get darker, and darker red whilst getting more vibrant and strong. The girl would go meaner, and meaner, and take everything that Olympia had to give, plus more.

Just like Michael.

Except, she was able to stop Michael. He was no longer near her, and one of the men in the shining yellow jackets had left her with a promise. "He won't hurt you again." All she did was focus on the colours.

This was when Olympia made a silent promise to herself. She was going to do whatever it took to stop the people with the horrible colours. She wouldn't let anybody hurt her. She did it with Michael, so why, why couldn't she do it with everybody else?

That night she stared at the girl and concentrated, harder then she had ever done before. 

The next morning she went straight to the woman with the big glasses and told her about the little bag of leaves beneath the girl's mattress, and yes she was sure that she had seen it.

Th girl was gone the next day.

And that's how it continued for the next ten years. She moved up and down the country, from foster home to foster home. Olympia revealed secret stashes of drugs and alcohol, addictions, thieves and liars. She got kicked out of nearly every foster home she was put in and scared away every potential room mate and adoptive parent.

She figured out the colours and how to hear somebody's thoughts without even trying. She got damn good at it.

She never met somebody like her though.

Until she got moved to a foster home in the middle of nowhere. Her room mate turned around with a smile. She was short, with bountiful curves and a red lipped smile.

"Hi, I'm Darcy. It's nice to meet you."

Her colours shone with a golden glow. 

Olympia smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found the perfect soundtrack for Olympia! I was just ignoring all of my pressing responsibilities and having an existential crisis when I found this band! It's perfect and is everything that just screams Lym. It's kinda mysterious, eerie but sounds so beautiful. Everything that I want Olympia to be. So yeah, Glass Animals are a band that I'm going to listen to constantly until I hate them. So listen to them whilst you're reading because I did the same whilst I was writing. (My favourite songs are Golden Antlers and Flip.)
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, anything you recognize doesn't belong to me and your support is appreciated!
> 
> Love you guys, have a fantastic dayyy.

Olympia smiled back, lifting her worn duffle bag from her shoulder to hit the ground with a thump.

"Olympia." She said in greeting, still staring at the hypnotising swirl of gold that seemed to radiate from Darcy's very core. She glanced around the room, taking in the two beds on opposite sides, beige walls and the small chest of drawers next to each bed. One bed was next to the window whilst the other was next to two doors that probably lead to a small closet and a bathroom. 

It was like every other room she'd ever stayed in.

Boring.

Bland.

Not home.

Though, she did never quite understand what anybody meant by the word 'home'.

"Which one's mine?" She asked, eyebrow raising in question and gesturing at the beds. Darcy seemed to shake herself before pointing at the one not near the window.

"We can switch if you want to be by the window, it can get kind of hot at night." Olympia glanced at her, hiding her shock when the girl's colours didn't flash a sickly yellow, they stubbornly stayed a solid gold. She was telling the truth.

Darcy was getting odder and odder by the minute.

But Olympia was a master at concealing, and simply shrugged and heaved her bag onto the bed by the window. She glanced over her again, ready for the moment when Darcy shouted 'Just kidding!' and stole her bed back. But she did nothing, just started unpacking the dresser next to her former bed.

She mentally shrugged, if it was being offered, you bet your ass that Olympia was going to take it. 

She eyed Darcy's possessions from the corner of her eye, taking in the practical jeans and faded t-shirts. Nothing designer, she thought to herself, not some spoilt princess then. Olympia unzipped her own bag, and pulled out a few toiletries and her book and dropped them onto the dresser. Then she zipped the bag back up and dropped it on the ground before kicking it under the bed. The floors were smooth and wooden, so the bag slid smoothly. She could feel Darcy's eyes on her as she did it, but the girl wisely said nothing about her behaviour.

With that finished, Olympia spun on her heel and headed towards the doors, not finished exploring her room. She swung the first one open to find a small bathroom, as she had guessed. It was typical, a toilet, sink and shower stall. Guess that meant there were no baths in her immediate future. She took a step in and pivoted on one foot, taking in every detail. One tile, just above her reach, looked slightly loose.

"Hey Darcy?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you come here for a sec?"

"Uh... Sure?" Darcy appeared a second later, looking tentative but eager to help. "What do you need?"

"Just give me a boost." Olympia said shortly, offering no explanation but gesturing for Darcy to stand by the wall.

"Should I even ask what your doing?"

"Nope." She replied, popping her lips with the sound.

"Right." Darcy muttered, as she stood next to the wall with her fingers linked together. She crouched down slightly whilst Olympia kicked off her battered trainers. She placed her foot on Darcy's hands, concentrating on blocking out her mind and pulled herself up, to balance precariously on her hands.

"You good?" Darcy asked, a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, go." And Darcy straightened up, sending Olympia higher. She steadied herself against the wall, before reaching up and picking at the edge of the tile, digging her nails in. It took a while to get a good grip on it, by which time Darcy was swearing profusely under her breath and shaking considerably.

"Are you done yet?"

"No."

"Hurry up, I'm going to fall."

"No you won't. Stop being melodramatic."

"Dude, I know you don't want to hear this, but you're kinda heavy."

"Wow, my delicate self-esteem has just taken a hit. How will I ever recover?" She said drily, before shouting out in triumph when her she pulled the tile free. "Got the bitch!" She shouted, before Darcy's knees collapsed beneath her and sent her flying. Olympia pitched backwards, twisting in mid-air to barely manage to catch herself on her hands.

Nevertheless, she sprung back up and snapped her fingers at Darcy. "Get up. I need to check it." Darcy glared up from the ground, plaster from the tile painting the centre of her forehead white.

"For two people who met not fifteen minutes ago, I gotta say that we're not making a great start to this relationship."

Olympia smirked and batted her eyelashes, pulling her hand up to rest on her chest. "Relationship? I didn't know you felt the same way!" She cried, before her face suddenly dropped to a mock scowl. "Now get up." With much swearing beneath her breath, Darcy clambered to her feet and begrudgingly resumed the earlier position. Olympia clambered up her like a tree and stared at the hole made by the tile.

"It's empty." She said in disappointment, before glancing down at Darcy. "Hey you got any blutack?" She stepped out of the brunette's hands and landed gracefully on the ground, scooping up the tile and waltzing out of the bathroom. The other girl trailed after her, glancing behind her warily.

"Why do you need blutack?" Olympia dropped the tile on her bed and walked over to the other door, and swung it open. It revealed a tiny closet, one rail and one shelf. 

"To fix the tile." She said, standing her tiptoes to stare at the shelf. It only contained a couple of beanies and no loose wooden planks. She left the door open and began prowling around the room, staring at the ground until she noticed one of the boards was loose.

She walked to the opposite end of the plank and stomped hard on it, sending the other end flying up. She stepped forwards and neatly caught it in one hand. Darcy and the tile had disappeared, presumably together. So Olympia just dropped the board on the floor and dropped to her knees to see if anything was hidden away.

There was. There was a rectangular shape wrapped in an old blue shawl. She pulled the shawl away to reveal a small velvet box and a larger, plainer, wooden one. She set the shawl and the second box down and flipped open the velvet covered box.

Sigh.

It only contained a couple of cheap necklaces, bracelets and a pair of silver earrings. The earrings were probably expensive, but that wasn't what she was looking for. With a heavy heart, she picked up the second box, not expecting anything good. 

When she found a heavy passlock on the side, she perked up, a smile stretching her lips. A lock was good. A lock meant it was hiding something. She turned the box over in her hands, taking in the cheap wood and the plain surface. How could anything precious be hidden inside something so ugly? If there wasn't a lock on the side, Olympia wouldn't have glanced twice at it. 

Ignoring the fact that it was hidden beneath the floorboards obviously.

She was just about to start guessing thee password when she suddenly heard two sharp footfalls and a gust of red filled her vision. The box was snatched from her hands, and Darcy cradled it to her chest, glaring at Olympia.

"What's in the box?" She asked, voice void of any apology.

Darcy's colours flashed a rich purple, tinged with a soulless black.

Desperation.

Fear.

She glanced down at the box, holding it carefully, like it was precious despite it's cheapness. "Nothing." She said, the pair both aware of the lie. "Don't open this, okay? Ever." It was the first time that Olympia had ever heard steel in the girl's voice, and stared at her in interest. What was in the box?

"Okay, I won't." She promised, as Darcy wrapped the boxes back in the shawl and replaced the floorboard.

It was a promise that Olympia intended to keep. It wasn't like she had to psychically to open the box to see what was inside it after all. She glanced at Darcy and saw the colours, before reading into them.

INeedABetterPlaceToHideThis

Was one thought that flashed through Darcy's mind with almost frightening urgency.

SheCan'tKnow.

Was the second thought that worried Olympia. She didn't want to get tied up in whatever the girl was hiding. So she either could ignore the problem and hope nothing happened, or she could find out what was in the box and fix it. Possibly stop it.

Or, she could use it.

Out of the four, she knew which one she preferred.

So she slid through Darcy's mind like water, digging through her memories until she found the right one. 

Six passports with Darcy's face on them.

Six different names.

Money.

Thousands of dollars in a tight roll.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Olympia had found out plenty about different people in her life in foster homes, but the worst thing she had ever found was a pretty large stash of cocaine and a couple hundred dollars. She had taken a sick kind of joy in trading information about that stash for a room with a better view.

But this, this was something else. Something serious. Was Darcy a drug dealer?

After a few seconds of digging through her mind, it became clear that Darcy wasn't, in fact, a drug dealer.

So where did she get all of that cash from? And the passports?

It didn't make sense, but Darcy had begun to notice that Olympia had suddenly gone quiet and was just staring into space. She came back to herself with a jerk.

"Sorry, away with the fairies." She'd just have to wait until the other girl fell asleep to find out why she had the box.

"It's okay." Darcy said quietly. Awkward silence filled the air for a few seconds before she carried on speaking. "What were you doing? You know, before." 

Olympia shrugged. "I like to know all of the nooks and crannies wherever I'm staying." She sent her a smirk. "You never know when it can come in useful." Darcy nodded, and glanced away. Sensing that another awkward silence would fall, Olympia jumped to her feet. "So where's everything around here?" She asked, breaking the silence.

The other girl seemed equally thankful to avoid silence. "I'll give you a tour if you want."

"That'd be great. Lead the way." Darcy paused, scratching her left arm awkwardly.

"You, um, you sure you don't want to change first?" She said, glancing down at Olympia's ripped jeans, faded shirt and bare feet.

Images of bleach blonde girls in designer mini skirts flashed through Darcy's mind.

"Nah," She said firmly. "I'm good." Darcy shrugged and lead the way out, Olympia following her, eagerly smiling.

It had been too long since she'd scared somebody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too sure about this one, but it was fun to write. Tell me if it's awful, and tell me what you thought! Any opinions on Darcy's reaction? And the box? Why does she need the money? And what is Olympia going to do to scare somebody?
> 
> Might write the next chapter tonight, I'm undecided. 
> 
> Seriously, Flip is my new favourite song. What's yours?
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and I love the kudos, comments and bookmarks!
> 
> Love you guys, have a great day!
> 
> ~Ruth

**Author's Note:**

> So whaddya think? I don't know how many chapters this is going to have but I wanted to write more of Olympia, and voila, this is what spilled out. Comment on what you think! It may be completely awful, considering it's late and I'm making bad decisions. Such bad decisions... I'm not sure about the title, comment if you have a better one and I might use it. (I have no shame)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Ruth


End file.
